François-Pierre Chaumeton (20 September 1775 in

Chouzé-sur-Loire Chouzé-sur-Loire (, literally ''Chouzé on Loire'') is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et ...

– 10 August 1819 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

botanist and physician. He studied medicine, humanities and languages (particularly Greek) in

, afterwards serving as a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

in military hospitals. Finding military surgery distasteful, he opted for work as a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

Val-de-Grâce The (' or ') was a military hospital located at in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was closed as a hospital in 2016. History The church of the was built by order of Queen Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII. After the birth of h ...

. Severely depressed by the untimely death of his wife, his friends convinced him to leave Paris and travel as a remedy for his melancholic state. After obtaining his doctorate in medicine at

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

in 1805 (graduate thesis "''Essai d'entomologie médicale''"), he relocated to Holland, where he remained for several years. Later on, he followed armies to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and the

Illyrian Provinces The Illyrian Provinces sl, Ilirske province hr, Ilirske provincije sr, Илирске провинције it, Province illirichegerman: Illyrische Provinzen, group=note were an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province of France d ...

, and in the meantime, learned the languages of the countries he visited, while also conducting extensive research in their libraries. In retirement, he settled in Paris, spending the latter years of his life suffering from

phthisis Phthisis may refer to: Mythology * Phthisis (mythology), Classical/Greco-Roman personification of rot, decay and putrefaction Medical terms * Phthisis bulbi, shrunken, nonfunctional eye * Phthisis miliaris, miliary tuberculosis * Phthisis pulmona ...

Written works

He was an editor of the multi-volume "''Dictionnaire des sciences médicales''" (publisher

Panckoucke The Panckoucke family was a French family engaged in publishing and printing. * Amélie Panckoucke (1750-1830), writer and salonnière, sister of Charles-Joseph ; * André Joseph Panckoucke (1703-1753), founder of the Panckoucke bookstore in Lill ...

1812–1822. 60 volumes), and with

Jean Louis Marie Poiret Jean Louis Marie Poiret (11 June 1755 in Saint-Quentin7 April 1834 in Paris) was a French clergyman, botanist, and explorer. From 1785 to 1786, he was sent by Louis XVI to Algeria to study the flora. After the French Revolution, he became a p ...

and Jean-Baptiste-Joseph-Anne-César Tyrbas de Chamberet, was co-author of "''Flore médicale''" (medicinal plants). * ** ** ** ** ** The following are 20th century biographies of Chaumeton: * ''Notice biographique sur François-Pierre Chaumeton (1775-1819)'', by Ernest Henry Tourlet; Blais et Roy, 1904. * ''Le Docteur François-Pierre Chaumeton, noble figure de Touraine 775-1819', by André Jean Brut, 1949.Google Books
Le Docteur François-Pierre Chaumeton.

References

French military doctors 1775 births 1819 deaths People from Indre-et-Loire 19th-century French botanists 19th-century French physicians {{France-scientist-stub